This invention relates to a water vehicle and more particularly to an improved water vehicle having a hand grip for affording increased rider capacity, an improved ventilating system for such a watercraft, and an improved fuel system therefor.
There is a very popular type of small watercraft commonly referred to as a "personal watercraft". This watercraft derives this name from the fact that it is designed primarily to be operated and ridden by a single person. Because of the extremely compact nature of these watercraft, it is common to provide them with a straddle-type seat on which the rider sits in a straddle fashion. Occasionally, the seats may be long enough to accommodate several riders seated in tandem, straddle fashion. However, by extending the seat, the overall size of the watercraft becomes larger than may be desired in many applications.
It is, therefore, a principal object of this invention to provide an improved small watercraft of this type which accommodates an operator/rider and also a passenger standing behind the operator/rider.
When this type of arrangement is provided, it is desirable to ensure that the standing passenger has a way of steadying himself. Furthermore, this type of watercraft generally has an open transom so that the rider and passengers can enter the watercraft from the body of water in which the watercraft is operating and from the rear.
Therefore, it is a still further object of this invention to provide an improved seat and handle arrangement that will facilitate a rider's entering the watercraft from the rear and also for steadying a rider standing on the rear deck of the watercraft.
As has been noted, this type of watercraft is frequently boarded from the rear through the open transom. However, if the rider's seat extends to the rear of the watercraft or nearly to the rear thereof, then the rider does not have sufficient room to easily enter the watercraft from the body of water in which the watercraft is operating.
It is, therefore, a still further object of this invention to provide a watercraft of this type that includes a rearwardly positioned boarding ladder than can cooperate with the handle to assist riders in entering the watercraft from the body of water in which the watercraft is operating.
Personal watercraft of the type described normally have an engine compartment that is positioned either beneath the seat or beneath a forward deck to the front of the seat. As is well know, it is desirable and, in fact, necessary to provide not only air to the engine compartment for engine combustion, but also ventilating air for the engine compartment. With this type of arrangement, it is also desirable that the ventilating system be effective in providing copious amounts of air without introducing water from the surrounding area into the engine compartment.
It is, therefore, a still further object of this invention to provide an improved ventilating system for a small watercraft.
It is a still further object of this invention to provide a compact and effective ventilating system for a small watercraft that will permit large amounts of air to pass through the engine compartment for ventilation and, at the same time, ensure that any water that may be drawn into the ventilating system cannot pass through to the engine compartment.
It should be apparent from the foregoing description that the nature of this watercraft provides a very compact assembly. Because of this compact nature, the fuel capacity of the watercraft tends to be relatively small. This means that the watercraft cannot be conveniently used for long trips or cruising, and this is, at times, a disadvantage.
It is, therefore, a still further object of this invention to provide an improved and auxiliary fuel supply system for a watercraft of this type.